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Category Archives: Poker

Mirage Las Vegas has opened its fancy-schmancy new Center Bar and Parlor Lounge after a $3.3 million renovation.

More schmancy than fancy, but you know what we mean.

The new Center Bar, in the center of the casino because naming things is hard, doesn’t have video poker machines, but it does have an extensive cocktail menu. Mirage is clearly speaking this blog’s love language.

It’s not a hangover, it’s evidence of a life fully lived. And that’s the story we’re sticking to.

Adjoining Center Bar is a new Parlor Lounge.

Fair warning, Parlor Lounge has a piano. We’re always nervous when we hear there’s a piano, as one piano is dangerously close to being two pianos, which far too often leads to dueling, one of the cruelest things ever perpetuated upon unsuspecting casino patrons, second only to appearances by celebrity restaurateur Guy Fieri.

In Las Vegas, feel free to show off your piano. Doing the same with your organ is generally frowned upon.

Parlor Lounge resides in the space formerly occupied by the casino’s poker room.

A shiny, new poker room was unveiled in May 2015. Unfortunately, photos are not permitted in the poker room, so we’re unable to share the one below.

Oooh, we’re so scared of your no photography rules. What are you going to do, double belly buster straight draw us? Just try it, because we don’t even know what that is.

The changes at Mirage are many, and others are still in the works. The Beatles Revolution Lounge closed in October 2015, and is now enclosed by a construction wall.

In Las Vegas, there are few things sexier than a construction wall. Yeah, we probably need to get a new hobby.

According to the signage, Mirage is in the process of building a “new dream experience” to replace Revolution Lounge. If this blog’s dream experiences are any indication, the new lounge at Mirage is likely to involve falling, flying or showing up naked at school unprepared for an exam.

How would we know? We are Las Vegas blog, not a Certified Dream Analyst, which we’re mortified to report is actually a thing.

There’s lots of newness at Caesars Palace, so we figured it was time to stop by and see what’s what.

First up, the hotel has a new lobby bar. It’s called (wait for it) Lobby Bar, and as such immediately takes its place on our list of things in Las Vegas named what they are because naming things is hard. It used to be called the Galleria Bar, but that apparently sounded too much like a shopping mall, so people were understandably confused.

Just around the corner from hotel registration.

The lounge feels about twice the size of the previous bar, and has some distinctly Roman flourishes.

Especially if you consider lonely businessmen a “Roman flourish.”

The new Lobby Bar makes a good first impression by providing two bowls of goodies, at least one of which is a fancy bowl of cashews.

You had us at 9% palmitic acid.

There’s relatively little seating at the bar for playing video poker, so you may have to actually pay for your cocktails (gasp!). There’s a great selection of signature cocktails, as part of an all-new cocktail menu, most for around $15. Oh, stop your whining. Did we mention you get a giant bowl of cashews? Those are gold.

If you have money to burn, you can always spend it on a couple of ounces of Hardy Perfection “Earth” brandy for $900.

We opted for the Cleopatra’s Smile, a panty-dropper if ever there were one. Cleopatra’s Smile has Ketel One Citroen vodka, Aperol Apertivo, Pavan liqueur, fresh-squeezed ruby red grapefruit and lemon juices and clover honey syrup.

Sweet and satisfying, just like other, better blogs.

The Lobby Bar cocktail menu is robust, as they say. Here are the Classic Libations. Here are the House Specialties. The gin and vodka selection is here. Drinks with whiskey, tequila, bourbon and rum are here. More whiskies, brandy and beer are here. Wine, non-alcoholic drinks (why?) and cold-pressed juice drinks are here. The things we do for you.

We quite enjoyed our visit to the new Lobby Bar at Caesars Palace. It makes a nice companion to the also-new Apostrophe Bar, near the hotel’s Bacchanal Buffet.

Told you there were Roman flourishes.

The Lobby Bar renovation is estimated to have cost $1.3 million, at least a portion of which was devoted to a serious cocktail waitress upgrade, if you get our drift.

Also new at Caesars Palace is the Poker Room. The former poker room has closed, and is expected to be swallowed whole by an expansion to the also-closed Pure nightclub.

Poker? We hardly know her! (We’ll be here all week.)

The new poker room is just across from Mesa Grill and the hotel’s statue of a famous boxer we can never remember the name of, mainly because we’re not convinced punching another person in the head repeatedly is a sport.

The new poker room is a little on the smallish side, but it’s not as if poker players could possibly complain more, so no biggy.

Here’s a photo of the shuttered Pure nightclub, mainly because we really like the idea of nightclubs closing.

Feel free to stay closed just as long as you need to, Pure.

The third new thing at Caesars Palace? Here, we’ll give you a hint.

It’s a Starbucks.

Talk about new. This is so new, it’s not even a thing yet. Have you guessed what it is, or what it will soon be?

Here’s another hint. It’s coming soon to a walled-off portion of the Cypress Street Marketplace (food court). The part of the Cypress Street Marketplace closest to Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill. Figure it out yet?

It’s a Starbucks.

You’re correct, it’s a Starbucks! That public school eduction just keeps paying dividends, doesn’t it?

Before you ask, yes, there’s another Starbucks just down the hall from this Starbucks, next to Central restaurant. So, there are going to be two Starbucks in the same hotel. Because Starbucks! We expect the new Starbucks will open within a month or two, whether we’d like it to or not.

That’s it for the new things, now we finally get to the phenomenally stupid thing. Admit it, that’s the part you were really looking forward to, right?

So, here it is, in all its phenomenally stupid glory.

Face, meet palm.

That’s right, “Others implode, icons reinvent.” Because while other Las Vegas resorts are busy imploding their snack bars, Caesars is reinventing its snack bar. As a Starbucks.

It’s just this kind of game-changing reinventing that’s made Caesars Palace the icon it is today.

A 23-year-old Michigan State graduate, Ryan Riess, has won the World Series of Poker at Rio Las Vegas, snagging a sweet $8.4 million in prize money. Better than a summer job as a lifeguard, don’t you think?

Riess beat out a field of 6,352 players who each paid $10,000 to enter the world’s largest poker tournament. Riess not only won $8,361,570, the richest prize in sports, but also a coveted, $500,000 WSOP gold bracelet.

Note: That forced smile is in no way indicative of the glee that results from winning an ass-ton of money and the world’s coolest fashion accessory.

Not, technically, an embryo, but very close. Thanks to Joe Giron at the WSOP for the pic.

Interestingly, Riess is the sixth consecutive player under 25 to win the World Series of Poker.

The bulk of the World Series of Poker Main Event (there are 62 events overall) happened back in July, but the final nine players reconvened Nov. 4, 2013 at Rio Las Vegas. The competition ended the following evening.

Coming in second was Jay Farber, 29, who won $5.1 million. What a disappointment he must be to his parents.

Players from 107 countries took part in this year’s World Series of Poker, several of whom were old enough to tie their shoelaces without assistance.

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